The Repair Café Movement Continues

The Repair Café Movement Continues

, , , , , , , ,

The Repair Café movement is growing in popularity worldwide as consumers see the benefits of repairing and repurposing items and reducing the amount sent to landfill.

Friends of the Farm held their 5th Repair Café in Māngere Bridge Library recently and were delighted to see so many people arrive with items for repair. The usual foot traffic in the Library was increased by 200 people.

In total 58 items were repaired, 15 powered items and 43 unpowered items. This amounted to 237kg of waste prevented and 2703 kg of CO2 emissions being prevented- the same amount of emissions as watching 4693 days of TV nonstop.

Local electricians Mark and Joel Swords were the most sought after followed closely by bike repairs done by Luke Haitoua from Duke Cycles. Sewing and darning were popular too with dresses, trousers, curtains, jerseys and baby blankets being mended by Kathrina, Janice and Cheryl

Handyman Alan Worman from Māngere East entertained people as he mended chairs, ornaments and knickknacks. Matt Gravestock dealt with IT queries while local librarian Irene Tufuga mended books. The food scraps display was enhanced this time when Māngere Bridge local Alzbeta Bouskova Houghton arrived mid-morning with a large bucket of liquid fertilizer. Alzbeta is the General Manager of the Ecogas Reporoa Organics Processing Facility and came along to show us one of the useful products produced from the food scraps anaerobic digestion process. Auckland’s food scraps are processed and turned into natural gas and this pungent bio-fertiliser concentrate, which is used to fertilize farmland. Plans are underway to provide this fertiliser to community gardens throughout Auckland.

While locals waited for their items to be mended they enjoyed a cuppa and home baked cookie, and chatted about recycling.

Special thanks to local café Phnom Penh for giving each volunteer a hot or cold drink and to Māngere Bridge Library for hosting the Repair Café.

More reading…

  • 2024 Volunteer Celebration and Thank You

    Over 60 locals gathered recently to celebrate the end of another year of working together to make Mangere Bridge a caring, connected, wastewise community.  

  • Got Any Blisters? I mean Blister Packs…

    Battery and blister pack collections are growing steadily each month as more of our community become aware of the service at the library. Be sure to tell your friends and family…

  • Papua New Guinea Pidgin Language Week Celebration

    Recently Mangere Bridge Library held a special event to celebrate the first Papua New Guinea (PNG) Pidgin Language week.  PNG is the most linguistically diverse country in the world and Pidgin is a commonly used dialect.    

Latest News

  • 2024 Winter Repair Café – Records Broken

    2024 Winter Repair Café – Records Broken

    We wondered, why do skilled locals volunteer their Saturday mornings to diagnose faults and mend household items? Repair Cafes are a worldwide movement, gaining in popularity each year as people try to reduce waste being sent to landfill and repair damaged household items.


  • 2024 Volunteer Celebration and Thank You

    2024 Volunteer Celebration and Thank You

    Over 60 locals gathered recently to celebrate the end of another year of working together to make Mangere Bridge a caring, connected, wastewise community.  


  • Got Any Blisters? I mean Blister Packs…

    Got Any Blisters? I mean Blister Packs…

    Battery and blister pack collections are growing steadily each month as more of our community become aware of the service at the library. Be sure to tell your friends and family…


  • Papua New Guinea Pidgin Language Week Celebration

    Papua New Guinea Pidgin Language Week Celebration

    Recently Mangere Bridge Library held a special event to celebrate the first Papua New Guinea (PNG) Pidgin Language week.  PNG is the most linguistically diverse country in the world and Pidgin is a commonly used dialect.    


  • We Love Libraries! 

    We Love Libraries! 

    These days, libraries are vibrant places that are the centre of communities. In addition to books and magazines, they offer activities to suit every age group, from babies and preschoolers’ music sessions to school holiday programmes to computer assistance for older adults…


  • It’s a Stitch-Up!

    It’s a Stitch-Up!

    The Mangere Bridge Library Knitting Group was formed 12 months ago and has grown since to include a variety of handwork, such as crochet, cross stitch, and felting. It’s more accurately known as the ‘Craft Group’…


  • Cleaning Our Foreshore

    Cleaning Our Foreshore

    Socks, shirts, bottles, cans, food wrappers, pizza boxes and, surprisingly, lots of lollipop sticks. Caring locals getting stuck in to clean up our foreshore…


  • Our 8th Repair Café 

    Our 8th Repair Café 

    Repairs, lambs, yummy treats and community spirit abounded at our 8th Repair Café…


  • Bee Supermarket at Ambury Farm Park?!

    Bee Supermarket at Ambury Farm Park?!

    Our lovely local farm, Ambury Park was chosen by Woolworths as the best site for a pop-up supermarket for bees.  Throngs of people have been calling in…


  • Māngere Bridge Seedling & Seed Swap Day

    Māngere Bridge Seedling & Seed Swap Day

    A first for FoF, this event was a huge success. More than just a seedling swap, there was lots of activities and goodies for green fingered locals.


  • Making Community Connections

    Making Community Connections

    Thanks to the variety of local community events and workshops, many new connections are made. Here are only a few…